After eyeing prices of solar panels for more than 10 years, a Kirksville furniture store is taking the plunge and going green with the hope that a solar array located on its roof will generate the majority of its electrical needs and pay for itself in two or three years.

Kelly’s Furniture President Mark Krueger said as a child he grew up reading Popular Science and hearing about Dick Tracy and his miniature communication device as well as solar powered homes and flying cars.

Two out of three isn’t bad, Krueger said after watching the installation of solar panels on the roof of Carpet One, the neighboring carpet component of Kelly’s Furniture on North Baltimore Street.

“I remember reading about solar collectors in Popular Science as a kid,” Krueger said. “It was very exciting. I remember comics of Dick Tracy talking into little transmitters and, well, those have come into fruition.”

The use of solar panels to collect the sun’s rays and convert and store it into electrical energy will ideally provide for up to 80 percent of the furniture store’s electrical needs and will likely be fully operational in the coming weeks.

“When we first started looking at it, the return for investment was just not there,” Krueger said.

But as prices came down and technology progressed, Krueger’s solar-powered dream became a reality.

And the move is both financial and environmental for Krueger, who said while the prospect of potentially getting credit from Ameren Missouri for any extra energy sent back to the grid is appealing, it was also a drive to protect the environment and reduce electrical usage and carbon footprint.

“I’m used to blazing new trails,” Krueger said. “We were the first in Kirksville to put up a color digital sign in the area, we broke ground for our expansion right when the economy crashed in 2008. It’s nothing new to me.”

Krueger added that he hopes once the system is up and running and the public and fellow business owners can see the potential payoff in two or three years, they might start considering making the switch.

“It’s not applicable to every type of business,” he said. “We looked at doing it in the warehouse, but the electric use wasn’t enough so the payback wasn’t there. [...] But we’re hoping to show it can be a good payback elsewhere.”

Page 2 of 2 - Krueger declined to provide a total cost for the project.